BILL ANALYSIS �
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 2137
Author: Quirk (D)
Amended: 8/5/14 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE ENERGY, UTILITIES & COMMUNIC. COMM. : 10-0, 6/17/14
AYES: Padilla, Fuller, Block, Cannella, Corbett, De Le�n,
DeSaulnier, Hill, Pavley, Wolk
NO VOTE RECORDED: Knight
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : Senate Rule 28.8
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 77-0, 5/27/14 (Consent) - See last page for
vote
SUBJECT : Energy efficiency programs: information available
for small
businesses
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill requires the Office of Small Business
Advocate (OSBA) within the Governors Office of Business and
Economic Development (GO-Biz) to include a link to the Energy
Upgrade California Internet Web site on its homepage.
ANALYSIS : Existing law:
1.Requires the Public Utilities Commission (PUC), in
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consultation with the California Energy Commission (CEC), to
identify all potentially achievable cost-effective electricity
and natural gas efficiency savings and to establishes
efficiency targets for electrical and gas corporations to
achieve pursuant to their procurement plans.
2.Establishes OSBA within GO-Biz the duties of which include
advisory participation in the consideration of all legislation
and administrative regulations that affect small businesses.
This bill:
1.Requires the OSBA to include a link to the Energy Upgrade
California Internet Web site on its homepage in order to
educate small business owners of the availability of various
programs promoting the efficient use of energy.
2.Requires the PUC to ensure that the Internet Web site for the
Energy Upgrade California program be revised to include
information related to demand-side energy management programs
for small business customers.
3.Defines "Demand-side energy management programs" as all energy
efficiency, demand-side response, clean distributed
generation, energy conservation, energy savings, or
weatherization programs of the state or a local government,
electrical corporations, gas corporations, or a local publicly
owned electric or gas utility.
Comments
California is investing billions of dollars in energy efficiency
retrofits for schools, homes and businesses. These dollars have
been made available through the voter approved Proposition 39,
which closed a tax loophole that favored out-of-state
corporations costing the state around $1 billion annually,
utility-run energy efficiency programs for residential homes and
businesses paid for through ratepayer dollars, or the California
Alternative Energy and Advanced Transportation Financing
Authority that provides a variety of different financing tools
for energy efficiency upgrades, just to name a few.
The problem is, while there is certainly a significant amount of
money being invested in energy efficiency upgrades around the
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state, as well as different outreach programs for schools and
residential homes, small businesses have not received the same
amount of public outreach that they deserve.
For example, AB 758 (Skinner, Chapter 470, Statutes of 2009)
required the CEC, in collaboration with PUC and other
stakeholders to develop a comprehensive program to achieve
greater efficiency in the state's existing building stock. The
CEC and PUC recently developed a program called Energy Upgrade
California. The program is focused on the energy efficiency home
improvement market, not small business, to help educate
customers and contractors of the benefits of energy efficiency
upgrades and incentives available to them.
The state has not developed a comprehensive outreach program for
small businesses, which are the backbone of California's ongoing
economic prosperity. This bill helps fill this void by
requiring OSBA to include a link to the Energy Upgrade
California Internet Web site on its homepage to educate small
business owners of the energy efficiency programs available to
them.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/1/14)
California Center for Sustainable Energy
National Federation of Independent Business
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 77-0, 5/27/14
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Bigelow, Bloom,
Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Brown, Buchanan, Ian
Calderon, Campos, Chau, Ch�vez, Chesbro, Conway, Cooley,
Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dickinson, Donnelly, Eggman, Fong, Fox,
Frazier, Beth Gaines, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon,
Gorell, Gray, Grove, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Roger Hern�ndez,
Holden, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Linder, Logue, Lowenthal,
Maienschein, Mansoor, Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Muratsuchi,
Nazarian, Nestande, Olsen, Pan, Perea, John A. P�rez, V.
Manuel P�rez, Quirk, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas,
Skinner, Stone, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wieckowski,
Wilk, Williams, Yamada, Atkins
NO VOTE RECORDED: Patterson, Quirk-Silva, Vacancy
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JG:nl 8/6/14 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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